Machinery Directive

The Machinery Directive describes standardised health and safety requirements for interaction between man and machine and replaces the host of individual state regulations that existed for machinery safety. The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC has applied since 29.12.2009.

The practical “Guide to the application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC” is used to interpret the text of the Directive. The document makes reference to the technical documentation and the role of risk assessment, among other things. A new version was published by the EU Commission in 2017. The guide can be downloaded on the website of the European Commission.

For the purposes of the Directive, machinery means an assembly consisting of linked parts or components, at least one of which moves, and which are joined together for a specific application (see Article 2 of the Machinery Directive).

The following are also considered as machinery for the purposes of the Machinery Directive:

Assembly of machines or complex plants

Safety components

Interchangeable equipment that can modify the basic functions of a machine

In addition to the machinery listed above there is also a list of exceptions for machinery which would fall under the scope of the Directive by definition, but for which other statutory provisions generally apply.

Official title of the Machinery Directive

Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast)

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